In an era of YouTube, going live on Instagram, Zoom webinars, and beyond, video content reigns supreme. It is obvious that each year, more and more content marketers recognise the compelling advantages of including video content in their digital marketing strategy. When targeted correctly, video can give you a leading position in terms of results over competitors.
With the importance of video content rising rapidly and it’s particularly prevalent in social media marketing, video content is now integral to marketing strategies. Here are Copper Squares’ top 3 reasons why video content is currently topping the charts as the main focus for social media marketers.
Consumers love Video Content
If you aren’t convinced that video marketing is beneficial or worthwhile, perhaps these 2022 statistics will change your mind:
- Cisco reports that 82% of global internet traffic come from either video streaming or video downloads in 2022.
- 66% of people said they’d prefer to watch a short video to learn about a product or service. (Elite Content Marketer)
- People watch an average amount of 16 hours of online video content weekly. 1/3 of all online activity is spent watching the video. (Siteefy)
People have short attention spans and want things to be easy. Video content is accessible, entertaining, and often educational. In the past, older generations might have turned on their favourite TV sitcom or gone to the cinema to escape from the stresses of daily life. That’s what you get with videos. There’s no tedious writing to read, no misinterpreted tone, and people can sit back and absorb the information. Videos give us a break from the ever-bombarding textual information we come across online and in our lives.
Video Gets More Exposure (and Engagement!)
If you’ve logged in to any social media platform recently, you might have noticed video content within the first 10 seconds. Why is that? This is because video content typically performs best with most algorithms, based on the fact it captures a viewer’s attention for longer than a still photo or graphic.
Why are videos shared so much? One reason can be found in the idea of showing vs. telling. Social media captions tell while video shows, and showing consumers something allows them to interface with it on multiple levels while telling them is more one-dimensional.
Demonstrating your brand identity through video gives consumers a chance to identify with it emotionally, and emotions play a huge role in our behaviour and decision-making. Videos engage multiple senses but are also easy and quick to process, a fact that can’t always be said for walls of text. The more engaged consumers are with content, the more likely they are to share it, which results in more attention and engagement with your brand.
Bonus: Staying on top of Video trends brings even more engagement.
Keeping on top of popular trends on social media platforms is important provided the trend is relevant to what you offer and your target audience. By keeping the audience at the forefront of your strategy, your videos will deliver relevant content that converts.
Many popular hashtags also recur weekly (such as #MotivationMonday #TopTipTuesday) and span across a range of consumer demographics. As a brand, you want to create campaigns that spark conversation and linking your video to the latest trends is key to doing so.
3. The Future of Video is Lasting and Bright
Video is more memorable compared to other forms of social media content thus ensuring a higher retention rate. A higher retention rate is one of the reasons video has such a long shelf-life. A video on TikTok for example can be surfaced in users’ For You Page on repeat for weeks, even months after it was published. Video content generates more interactions and shares, which means it stays in the algorithm for longer.
One of the most influential tools in the social media marketer’s mix is the viral video. Viral videos tend to spread at a rapid pace on social media, giving your business a boost of attention that might have taken years to accumulate. The key to creating viral videos is the idea generation process from watching popular meme videos, and taking inspiration from the content but making it relevant to your niche. Video allows you to move quickly and take advantage of news stories, consumer behaviour and any kind of relevant content that goes viral. Video content can in turn make your business part of the social conversation.
As technology continues to shift and change, so too does how we use it. From the explosive growth of social media platforms that rely on short, user-generated videos to a boom in AI-assisted technology, the future looks bright for video. Retailers, for example, will be able to pair VR with AI-integrated software that will allow their customers to wear virtual merchandise, look at video ads in the metaverse, and interact with them.
AI is already dominating the social media space with smart and interactive filters that change by identifying what the person is doing in the video. Eg: you stick your tongue out, and the dog filter opens its mouth to bark with its tongue out.
AI can also develop creatives and messaging in your brand voice across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It can look at posts, and videos that have performed well in the past and design similar content easily. This makes AI a superb solution to social media inconsistency and underperformance. AI is going to revolutionise the video marketing industry going forward.
In Conclusion –
If you’re not creating video content for your brand yet, there’s never been a better time to get started. The good news is, your video content strategy doesn’t need to be overwhelming or expensive — often the simplest, most authentic concepts can work best. If you want to know how to incorporate video within your budget as part of your Social Media Strategy get in touch with Copper Square for more information.
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Social Media Trend You Need To Know For 2023
Why You Need A Social Media Strategy If You Want To Grow Your Business
